Famous apple growers: Willard Scott, NBC Today Show weatherman; Dick Enberg, NBC sportscaster (who grew up on a Michigan apple farm near Armada); and Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (who used to trade apple wood with each other for grafting purposes).

According to the Guinness Book Of Records, the largest apple ever plucked from a tree weighed three pounds, two ounces, and was picked in Caro, Michigan!

The Paula Red apple variety was discovered around 1960 near some McIntosh trees by grower Lewis Arends of Sparta, Michigan. Mr. Arends named the new variety after his wife Pauline. Paula Red is a short-season apple typically available through early October.

The Ginger Gold apple variety, being planted in increasing numbers by Michigan growers, apparently owes its start to Hurricane Camille, which roared through Virginia in 1969. The hurricane destroyed much of the orchard of Virginia growers Clyde and Ginger Harvey. Several years later they found a tree that had grown from a seed that had apparently been washed into the orchard from elsewhere, perhaps during the storm. They named the variety after Mrs. Harvey.

According to legend, the Esopus Spitzenburg apple variety was Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple. Spitzenburg is thought to be a parent of the Jonathan apple variety. While not available in many grocery stores, you can occasionally find Spitzenburg apples at farm markets and roadside stands.

According to Country Living Gardener magazine, archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since at least 6500 B.C.

Today about 300 different apple varieties are grown in the U.S. You can find apples are grown in many climates all over the U.S.--in deserts, mountains, flatlands, river valleys, and of course, along the Great Lakes.

Chenango Strawberry, Winter Banana, Pitmaston Pineapple, Kid's Orange Red, Ashmead's Kernel, Ben Davis, Holstein, Summer Rambo, Liberty, and Hawaii are just a few of the many names of apples! Thousands of other apple variety names have been recorded in horticultural journals throughout history.